The Big Accident
by General K-Star
Summary: A short Mario Kart: Double Dash fanfic. A huge accident occurs during the first annual AllCup Tour and everyone ends up in the emergency room. Please R&R! 3 parts. My first completed fic!
1. Part 1: The Big Accident

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to anything you may recognize from any Nintendo game.

It was the last race before the final on Rainbow Road. This race took place in Mushroom City, one of the most dangerous tracks on the tour because of all the traffic and bombs... and of course Bowser's reckless driving and disregard for all safety rules. Normally, these races were held with very high standards of safety. Although people loved throwing stuff at each other's karts to eliminate the competition, special rules had been put in place to make sure no one was seriously injured. And Bowser didn't care about any of them. He'd do whatever it took to win, even if it meant seriously hurting others.

Mario and Peach were on the same team, as were Luigi and Daisy. Everyone else kept their usual partners. Things were going relatively well in the race; the first two laps had gone by with little incident, and the third lap was going well...

Until...

(tires squealing) CRASH! BOOM! (karts turning over and flying into the air) (more crashing)

(ambulance sirens) (moaning and screaming) (stretchers being wheeled out) (people being put on them and then put in the ambulances)(ambulances driving away, sirens blaring)

(cut to the emergency room)

Toadsworth was really upset when he arrived at the emergency room. He was the one who had put all those safety rules in place in order to protect everyone, but Bowser's disregard for the rules and strong desire to win had resulted in an eight car pile up when Bowser threw a giant shell at Mario and Peach, who had been in first and were just ahead of Bowser and his son, forcing Mario to drive straight into a bomb kart on the road. Since the race had been so close, everyone had either been caught in the bomb's blast or had crashed into someone who had been caught in the blast. Now everyone was in the emergency room (even Bowser and Bowser Jr.) and a few competitors (including Mario and Peach) hadn't shown signs of consciousness yet.

"Oh dear!" Toadsworth exclaimed as he saw doctors and nurses hustling about from one bed to another; the ones containing the more seriously injured racers had curtains drawn around them. Toadsworth approached the doctor in charge of the emergency room, Dr. Pianta (who was, you guessed it, a pianta). "Is everyone ok?" he asked in a tone of panic, "What about Master Mario and Princess Peach? Are they all right?"

"Everyone seems to be doing ok," Dr. Pianta said, "In fact, some of the racers managed to escape with only minor injuries. Unfortunately, Mario and Peach haven't woken up yet. Neither have Luigi, Wario, or Yoshi. Everyone else seems to be doing fine. You can visit anyone who isn't currently receiving treatment. And the patients who have curtains drawn around their bed are unconscious, so it would kinda be pointless to visit with them unless you just wanted to be by their side when they woke up."

At that moment, Toadsworth heard a moan coming from a bed with curtains drawn around it. "Hmm," Dr. Pianta said, "It seems as though Luigi has woken up. You can visit him if you want to. I think Daisy's there already."

Toadsworth walked over to see if Luigi and Daisy were ok. Daisy was sitting in a chair by Luigi's bed. "Ah, Princess Daisy!" Toadsworth said, "I'm glad to see you're ok." She only had a broken arm, which was in a cast. Luigi, however, was in a full body cast. "Oh dear!" Toadsworth exclaimed, seeing Luigi, "What happened?"

"Well," Daisy explained, "We were right behind Mario and Peach when the bomb blew up, so our kart was sent flying, too. We fell out and I broke my arm, but the kart landed on top of Luigi... He's probably lucky to be alive."

"So you saw the whole thing?" Toadsworth asked, "You didn't lose consciousness?"

"Nope," Daisy replied, "All I did was land on my arm and get a few cuts and bruises. Nothing that hasn't happened to me before..."

Luigi tried to ask Toadsworth a question, but it was hard to understand him through all the plaster. "What was that, sweetie?" Daisy asked, leaning closer so she could hear Luigi. Luigi mumbled again, and Daisy understood him. "He wants to know if Mario is ok," she said, "And I guess I might as well ask about Peach, too."

"I don't know," Toadsworth replied, "I haven't seen either of them since the crash, and the doctor said that neither of them have regained consciousness."

"Oh no!" Daisy exclaimed. Just then, they heard someone mumble "Mama mia!" from the curtained bed across from Luigi's bed. "Huh? Isn't that Mario over there?" Daisy asked.

"I think so," Toadsworth said, "I'll go check. You can stay here with Luigi." With that, Toadsworth left Daisy and Luigi and went to go see if that was Mario behind the curtains.

It was. Mario was lying in his bed, his hat was on the table next to the bed and his head was bandaged. His right leg was broken, too, and he was badly burned since he had been right up front in the driver's seat when they hit the bomb. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but got dizzy and laid down again. "Master Mario!" Toadsworth exclaimed, "Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Mario groaned, "Toadsworth? What's going on? Where am I?"

"Do you remember anything about the crash?" Toadsworth asked.

Mario thought for a while, then remembered. "Oh," he said, "All I remember is Bowser's shell forcing us into a bomb kart, we went flying into the air, I came down and hit my head on the ground and everything goes blank from there..." he explained. "Where's Peach?" he asked, "Is she ok?"

"I don't know..." Toadsworth replied, "I haven't seen her since the crash. The doctor said she was still unconscious... I'm very worried about her."

"Can you go check and see if she's ok?" Mario asked, "I'd go myself, but I can't get up."

"I'll go check on her," Toadsworth said, "I just need to find out where she is."

"If she can get up, could you ask her to come see me?" Mario asked.

"I will," Toadsworth replied, "But I can't make any promises. For all I know, she could be in worse shape than you."

He left Mario and went to find out where Peach was. He asked Dr. Pianta where she was and he pointed to the curtained bed across from Toad's bed (Toadette was visiting him at the moment). "It would be kinda pointless to go visit her now," Dr. Pianta had said, "She still isn't showing any signs of consciousness."

"I just want to see if she's ok," Toadsworth said, "I'm very worried about her and her friends are worried, too."

"All right," Dr. Pianta sighed, "Go ahead, but don't get your hopes up on having a conversation or anything. It's kinda boring talking to someone who won't respond." He pushed aside the curtain so Toadsworth could go through.

HA! CLIFFHANGER! Be sure to check back for Part 2: Mario's Recovery! I'm gonna post Part 2 RIGHT NOW so hang on!


	2. Part 2: Mario's Recovery

Peach was lying motionless on the bed. Her crown was on the table next to the bed and her forehead was bandaged. She had a cast on her right arm and a cast on her left leg. Besides Luigi, she seemed to have taken the most damage in the accident. "Oh dear!" Toadsworth gasped. He turned to Dr. Pianta. "Is she going to be all right?" he asked with a tone of panic in his voice.

"She should be fine," Dr. Pianta replied, "but it's going to be very difficult for her to get around for a while. We won't know the extent of the damage until she wakes up and lets us know how she's feeling."

"Can you tell me exactly what happened?" Toadsworth asked.

"Well, the paramedics said that she was found about ten feet away from where the kart had landed," Dr. Pianta explained, "in the middle of the road, too. She was almost hit by a bus after she landed, but he stopped in time. Saw the blast and hit the brakes hard… he almost caused another accident with that abrupt stop." The doctor shook his head. "Hey wait," he said, remembering something, "Doesn't she have the ability to float in the air for a short time? The Royal Family of the Mushroom Kingdom is famous for having that ability! Couldn't she have floated to safety?"

"She can only float if she concentrates," Toadsworth replied, "And I'm pretty sure she panicked too much during the explosion to really focus on anything."

At this moment, Mario came limping in through the curtains (hey, it's hard to walk with a cast on your leg! I think… I've never broken my leg before so I wouldn't know). Dr. Pianta and Toadsworth were surprised. "Master Mario!" Toadsworth exclaimed, "You shouldn't be up and about in your condition! You need rest!"

"I feel fine," Mario said, "I just needed to see if Peach was ok. Besides, you're not a doctor, Toadsworth. I don't see how you can tell me whether I'm ok or not."

"Yeah, but I am," said Dr. Pianta, "And I agree with him. You really should be in bed."

"I feel fine, Doc!" Mario exclaimed, "Really!"

"Are you sure?" Dr. Pianta asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Positive," Mario replied, "And if you're really that worried, I'll sit down here. I just want to be with Peach and make sure she's ok."

"All right then," Dr. Pianta sighed, "You can sit here and wait for her to wake up. Just _stay seated_," he stressed, "You really shouldn't be up and about after suffering a concussion! I'll go get some crutches for you so you can go back to bed after she wakes up. You don't need to be hopping around everywhere on one leg; you could lose your balance and hit your head again."

"Thanks, Doc!" Mario said. Toadsworth helped him over to the chair next to Peach's bed. Mario sat down and Dr. Pianta left to get him some crutches. Mario held Peach's hand as she lay there, still not moving. "Come on, Peach," he whispered, "Please wake up. Please show us you're ok…"

HAHA! ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! Stay tuned for Part 3: Peach's Recovery! I'm about to start writing it! Sorry for this part being so much shorter than the first one...


	3. Part 3: Peach's Recovery

Mario and Toadsworth stayed by Peach's side through the night. As each hour passed with no sign of her waking up, Mario felt worse and worse.

"It's my fault," Mario said, "I should've seen the bomb. If I had known there was a bomb up ahead, I would've rather gotten hit by the shell. It would've done less damage, and no one else would be hurt. I would've rather have Bowser win the race if it meant that no one got hurt. Especially Peach."

"Oh, poppycock!" Toadsworth exclaimed, "It was no more your fault than it was Bowser's! If he hadn't thrown the shell, none of this would've happened! And if you did get hit with the shell instead, it wouldn't have just disappeared like the other kinds of shells, it would've kept going and probably hit the bomb anyway! There was nothing you could do; it's not your fault."

Mario and Toadsworth got in to a long argument about whose fault it really was for the accident (and would've kept at it for the rest of the night, too), when suddenly they heard a soft moan. They turned and saw Peach trying to wake up. "Peach!" Mario gasped, taking hold of her hand, "Are you all right?"

Peach opened her eyes and looked up at Mario. "Mario?" she whispered, "Is that you?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"What happened?" she asked, looking around, "What's going on? Where am I?"

"There was a big accident during the race," Mario explained, "Do you remember?"

Peach thought for a while. "Yeah," she said, "I remember we hit a bomb… Are you ok? Is everyone else ok? They were so close behind us…"

"I'm ok," Mario said, "And I think everyone else is ok, too. What about you? Are you ok?"

"I… I think so," Peach replied. She tried to get up, but immediately laid back down again. "Ow!" she cried.

"Uh, perhaps you shouldn't try that again for a while, Princess," Toadsworth suggested. "Do you want me to adjust the bed so you can sit up?" he asked.

"Yes, please," she replied. Toadsworth adjusted the bed and Peach thanked him. At that moment, Dr. Pianta came over to see if she had woken up yet (he'd been checking on her every hour). He saw that she was finally awake, and looked a little relieved. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "Princess Peach, you're awake! That's great! Um… could you answer a few questions for me?" he asked.

"Sure," Peach replied.

"Great. So, how are you feeling? Any pain? Discomfort? Nausea? Weakness?" he asked.

"No, not really... Except my right arm and left leg really hurt… but that would be because they're broken, right?" she answered, noticing the casts.

"Yeah, that would explain it," Dr. Pianta said, "Anything else?"

"Well, I don't seem to be able to sit up on my own, and I feel really cold…" Peach explained.

"You're probably still in shock from the crash," Dr. Pianta said, "Don't worry, that happens to almost everyone. I'll get one of my nurses to bring you an extra blanket. Is that all?"

"I think so," Peach replied.

"Are you sure?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," Peach assured him.

"All right, then, I'll have my nurse bring you a blanket and if you need anything else, just let me know," Dr. Pianta said. "Oh, and since you seem to be doing ok, would you like me to remove the curtains?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied. Dr. Pianta pushed back the curtains surrounding the bed so Peach could see everything that was going on in the emergency room, and then he left. She was a little surprised at the number of racers who had been injured in the accident. She looked around and saw Daisy and Luigi (the curtains had been removed from Luigi's bed once he regained consciousness). Luigi saw Peach once her curtains had been removed and muttered something to Daisy. Daisy turned around and saw Peach, Mario, and Toadsworth. Daisy beamed and ran over to Peach.

"Peach!" she exclaimed, rushing over to her and nearly knocking over Toadsworth, "How are you doing? Are you all right? And Mario, are you ok too?"

"I'm fine," Peach replied.

"Me too," Mario nodded.

"That's great!" Daisy said, "We were so worried about you two! I'm glad you're both ok!"

"What about you, Daisy?" Peach asked, "How are you doing?"

"Not too bad," Daisy replied, "I only escaped with a broken arm. Poor Luigi, he's in a full body cast now!"

At this time, Dr. Pianta's nurse came by with a warm blanket for Peach and crutches for Mario. "Mario," the nurse said, "the doctor wanted me to tell you that you need to go back to bed now. He thinks you've had enough time to chat with Peach and you really need rest. She needs to rest, too."

"Oh, all right," Mario sighed, "I'll go back to bed…"

"Good," the nurse said, "Peach, you need to get some rest, too. I know you just woke up, but it's not a good idea to get too excited after just regaining consciousness. Daisy, are you going to stay with Peach for a while?"

"I was thinking of staying and chatting for a bit," Daisy said as Mario got up and went back to bed, "but if you need me to leave her alone for a while I'll go back and visit with Luigi."

"No, it's all right if you stay," the nurse assured her, "I just need to change the bandages on her forehead first, that's all."

"Oh, ok," Daisy replied. She left while the nurse changed Peach's bandages (Toadsworth stayed with Peach the whole time), and later came back to chat until the nurse told her to leave so Peach could get some rest.

The next day, all injured racers who were still confined to their beds were moved to another room (they needed to have space in the emergency room for other emergencies). Mario's bed was placed next to Peach's bed and Luigi's bed was placed on the other side of Mario's bed. Daisy sat next to Luigi's bed and Toadsworth stayed next to Peach. They were all able to chat with each other since they were so close (Daisy had to speak for Luigi, though, since it was hard to hear him through his full body cast). Eventually, everyone was able to go back home (Mario still had to use crutches, and Peach and Luigi were in wheelchairs). Toadsworth had declared the All-Cup Tour cancelled due to the big accident, so there would be no race on Rainbow Road this year (Peach persuaded him to at least allow the All-Cup Tour to be held next year, although Toadsworth had planned on permanently canceling the tour in order to avoid another big accident like this one).

A year passed, and they were all recovered and ready to race again…


End file.
